So the 335d is gone, and as much as I love my Saab 9-3 Sports Wagon (and I really do like it), there was a plan afoot for something for weekend and perhaps some track days.
I'd been out in @Marc's M135i, and was hugely impressed with both the driving dynamics and grunt with a simple map. With second hand prices sensible for a 3 year old example it was the logical step from the E92. Or so I thought.
However, in one of those many read loads of pistonheads/evo/jalopnik/random internet car articles (likely when supposed to be doing something else), I found myself reading a buyers guide for the Lotus Evora. Of course the next stop was AutoTrader for a good nosey. Of course there was one not 15 minutes from my front door. Took myself down to the dealers purely to kick the tyres, or so I thought...
Back in 2009 I was heading back on the Birkenhead ferry with the Nissan S14 drift car. The ferry was packed and we shared a table with another bloke and got stuck into our dinner. We of course were chatting about the drifting at Snetterton that weekend, and the chap across the table is suddenly intrigued. He tells us he's just been to Hethel, Lotus HQ, collecting one of the very first Lotus Evoras from the production line.
Check it out - there it is behind my drift entourage in blurry blue glory. The same car, I'm fairly sure, that I was test driving October past. One local owner and registered within days of when I took that photo. It was a sign.
A sign that I was about to blow my budget out of all proportion. Now the car was considerably more than both an M135i and my budget. I couldn't get it out of my mind though. The way it looked and drove was like nothing else in my varied history of driving.
It had the surreal hands-to-road connection that is only found in the likes of an Elise, but unlike it's sibling was comfortable, had carpets, a heater that worked and a radio you could hear. Clearly. And so, so great to look at. The BMW wasn't getting a look in.
The next months were spent prepping the 335d for sale, researching these hand built cars and contemplating if I had the swingers to take out a loan to bridge the gap from my 'M135i Budget'.
How could I not buy it? Just look at it! Man maths swiftly took over. It has Recaros, Bilsteins, Alpine sounds and AP brakes out of the box for goodness sake.
The 335 didn't go until after Christmas, but neither did the Evora. Fate stepped in again and it needed an alarm module which was on back order with Lotus. I did the deal and picked her up last week, and popped along to the Cars at the Mill show this morning in it.
Needless to say many smiles per miles. This particular car is a Launch Edition 'LE', of only 250 were manufactured by Lotus as the first cars to come off the line in 2009, fully loaded with all option packs.
That includes leather trimmed dash, Alpine Imprint double din head unit / amp / reversing camera, ambient lighting pack, leather trimmed door cards and sills (which are particularly wide and I'll give off at you if you catch your feet on them!)
It also has the sports pack, which has the uprated cross-drilled discs, and the sports button which has a better map/higher rev limit. Lotus sourced a Toyota 3.5 v6 unit producing just shy of 300bhp for the launch cars (they released a supercharged car a few years later), and despite it's initial use in the Camry, it sounds spectacular in the considerably smaller Evora.
There are back seats, although they are only useful for storage, small children or the dog! Behind that the engine is shoehorned in over the rear axle, and a token gesture of a boot behind that.
Behind the drivers seat it's comfy, quiet, there's cruise control, electric windows and mirrors and carpet! Elise owners scream sacrilege , sure, but you could drive for long distances with ease in this.
Anyway, I'll be getting a proper photographer to take some proper photos but I'm intending to get this out to a lot of our local events!
Andy
I'd been out in @Marc's M135i, and was hugely impressed with both the driving dynamics and grunt with a simple map. With second hand prices sensible for a 3 year old example it was the logical step from the E92. Or so I thought.
However, in one of those many read loads of pistonheads/evo/jalopnik/random internet car articles (likely when supposed to be doing something else), I found myself reading a buyers guide for the Lotus Evora. Of course the next stop was AutoTrader for a good nosey. Of course there was one not 15 minutes from my front door. Took myself down to the dealers purely to kick the tyres, or so I thought...
Back in 2009 I was heading back on the Birkenhead ferry with the Nissan S14 drift car. The ferry was packed and we shared a table with another bloke and got stuck into our dinner. We of course were chatting about the drifting at Snetterton that weekend, and the chap across the table is suddenly intrigued. He tells us he's just been to Hethel, Lotus HQ, collecting one of the very first Lotus Evoras from the production line.
Check it out - there it is behind my drift entourage in blurry blue glory. The same car, I'm fairly sure, that I was test driving October past. One local owner and registered within days of when I took that photo. It was a sign.
A sign that I was about to blow my budget out of all proportion. Now the car was considerably more than both an M135i and my budget. I couldn't get it out of my mind though. The way it looked and drove was like nothing else in my varied history of driving.
It had the surreal hands-to-road connection that is only found in the likes of an Elise, but unlike it's sibling was comfortable, had carpets, a heater that worked and a radio you could hear. Clearly. And so, so great to look at. The BMW wasn't getting a look in.
The next months were spent prepping the 335d for sale, researching these hand built cars and contemplating if I had the swingers to take out a loan to bridge the gap from my 'M135i Budget'.
How could I not buy it? Just look at it! Man maths swiftly took over. It has Recaros, Bilsteins, Alpine sounds and AP brakes out of the box for goodness sake.
The 335 didn't go until after Christmas, but neither did the Evora. Fate stepped in again and it needed an alarm module which was on back order with Lotus. I did the deal and picked her up last week, and popped along to the Cars at the Mill show this morning in it.
Needless to say many smiles per miles. This particular car is a Launch Edition 'LE', of only 250 were manufactured by Lotus as the first cars to come off the line in 2009, fully loaded with all option packs.
That includes leather trimmed dash, Alpine Imprint double din head unit / amp / reversing camera, ambient lighting pack, leather trimmed door cards and sills (which are particularly wide and I'll give off at you if you catch your feet on them!)
It also has the sports pack, which has the uprated cross-drilled discs, and the sports button which has a better map/higher rev limit. Lotus sourced a Toyota 3.5 v6 unit producing just shy of 300bhp for the launch cars (they released a supercharged car a few years later), and despite it's initial use in the Camry, it sounds spectacular in the considerably smaller Evora.
There are back seats, although they are only useful for storage, small children or the dog! Behind that the engine is shoehorned in over the rear axle, and a token gesture of a boot behind that.
Behind the drivers seat it's comfy, quiet, there's cruise control, electric windows and mirrors and carpet! Elise owners scream sacrilege , sure, but you could drive for long distances with ease in this.
Anyway, I'll be getting a proper photographer to take some proper photos but I'm intending to get this out to a lot of our local events!
Andy